One of the most fulfilling yet difficult aspects of my career is helping people navigate their journey to better health. Healing is a process that can take a lot of time. We tend to think of that process as a straight road from disease or injury to health but that is the exception rather than the rule. Often, things feel worse before they feel better and there are always plateaus and valleys. Helping patients to have faith in the process and continue care despite bumps in the road is a worthy challenge.
Everyone comes into the office with disfunction. Not all disfunction is symptomatic but it all has potential to become so. Sometimes people come in with symptoms that are just starting to show but during further examination, I discover that those symptoms are just the tip of a very large dysfunctional iceberg. I know that when I start chipping away at the dysfunction below the surface it is going to make those symptoms much more obvious. This can be very alarming. In addition, symptoms can change or move locations. People who are more prone to worry, often need a lot of reassurance to stay the course. There are several signs and symptoms that may cause concern but are actually indicative of progress. Most of these happen in early stages of care.
Pain will often increase with increased movement. Adjustments are designed to move joints that have been stuck or moving improperly for some time. Getting them to move again can cause pain. It is not always pleasant but it is a necessary step. As a rule, the pain should be more of an ache or soreness. Furthermore, pain can centralize and therefore increase in intensity. Centralized pain, or pain that is focalizing on the dysfunctional joint, is usually more painful than a broad spread out pain. In this phenomenon, the pain is going back to where it belongs which is a very positive step. The closer your symptoms are to the structure that is actually causing the symptoms, the better the body will be at promoting healing in that area.
Symptoms often change especially when nerves are involved. If a nerve is significantly injured, the worst thing is complete numbness with zero sensation. There is actually no pain. When we lessen the irritation, the sensation is one of pins and needles and achiness. This can be followed by soreness. These symptoms will wax and wane for some time before a complete recovery.
Another change that can happen that will cause a patient mental anguish is when a symptom switches sides. We often see this is disc related injuries. This is not necessarily a bad thing either. It tells me that the disc is not completely stuck in one bulging position and can change or, even better, that it has not degenerated to the point of no return. The ability to change means it can heal.
I find it much better to not focus on symptoms but to look at movement patterns, muscle tone, and inflammation. If range of motion is improving and muscles are calming down, then progress is being made, and it is only a matter of consistency and time before symptoms start to go away for long stretches of time. When people ask if they are getting better, or complain that they are not any better, when I know they are, I usually ask them how they feel after an adjustment. More often than not, they feel significantly better but it just does not last as long as they think it should. As we get better, we also tend to forget how bad the pain was. The contrast of any pain when you have experienced little to no pain promotes the idea that one is not improving. Perspective is the key.
If you feel like chiropractic is not helping you, please take a step back and consider the big picture before you cut your care short, thus nullifying all of the hard work you and your doctor have done to help you become functional again.
***Photo by Zac Durant on Unsplash
